First Coast Guard District to hold change of command

Jun 27th, 2008 · Comments Off on First Coast Guard District to hold change of command

BOSTON – A change of command ceremony is scheduled for the Commander of the First Coast Guard District at Fanueil Hall in downtown Boston, July 2 at 11 a.m.

During the ceremony, Rear Adm. Dale G. Gabel, previously the Assistant Commandant for Engineering and Logistics, will assume responsibilities from Rear Adm. Timothy S. Sullivan, as Commander of the First Coast Guard District.

Sullivan, First District Commander the past two years, will relinquish his command and begin his new role as the Commander of Coast Guard Maintenance and Logistics Command Pacific in Alameda, Calif.

The change of command ceremony is a time-honored tradition, which formally restates that the continuity of command will be maintained. It is a formal ritual, conducted before the assembled company of the command. It conveys to the officers, enlisted personnel, civilian employees and auxiliarists of the Coast Guard that although the authority of command is relinquinshed by one person and is assumed by another, it is still maintained without interruption.

The First Coast Guard District, headquartered in Boston, encompasses an area of eight states from northern New Jersey to the Maine-Canadian border, including more than 2,000 miles of shoreline. In an average day, the 11,000 men and women of the Department of Homeland Security’s First Coast Guard District save two lives, conduct 17 search and rescue cases, assist 20 people and safeguard $46,633 in property at sea.

The Coast Guard is the nation’s lead federal agency for maritime homeland security and is tasked with reducing terrorism-related risk in the maritime domain. The Coast Guard works simultaneously with other federal, state and local law enforcement agencies in order to meet this task and enforce compliance with all federal maritime statutes and regulations.